Kansas City Chiefs: Trading Dwayne Bowe Could Unlock a Better Future

The relationship between Dwayne Bowe and the Kansas City Chiefs at the moment is about as steady as Terrell Owens’ paychecks. After failing to reach a long-term deal over the spring, the summer has seen Bowe all but disappear.

As he refuses to sign his $9.5 million franchise tag as of now, the wideout isn’t showing his face in St. Joe. Even though Bowe gains nothing from sitting out and Jonathan Baldwin seems to be taking over the role as primary receiver, he insists on trying to prove a point to the team.

So what we have here is a wide receiver who is quickly becoming both expendable and a nuisance. What to do with such a player?

Simple. Trade him.

This won’t be a popular opinion, but ride this train with me for a moment. If we’re being perfectly realistic, Dwayne Bowe is probably worth around a third-round pick at this point. He’s not widely considered among the elite, game-changing receivers, and holding out of camp puts him in an unfavorable light.

But let’s spitball for a moment. Despite his absence from camp now, Bowe will report to the team eventually. He has to. There is almost no upside to turning down a year's worth of game checks while you sit out the season. You not only lose a substantial amount of money, but the opportunity to showcase yourself for other teams once you do become a free agent goes out the window.

So, say Bowe comes in, signs the tender and plays like his old self. Say Scott Pioli works his magic and convinces a team like Miami or Minnesota that Bowe is worth a first-round pick. Should he pull the trigger?

What's the Minimum You Would Trade Bowe For?

What's the Minimum You Would Trade Bowe For?

First-round draft pick

46.8%

Second-round draft pick

38.8%

Third-round draft pick

14.4%

Total votes: 598

Absolutely, because it opens the door to bigger and better things for the team.

The Redskins just gave up a king’s ransom of picks for the right to draft Robert Griffin III. At first glance, the three first-rounders and one second-round pick seem like too high a price to give up for one player.

Except a franchise quarterback.

So if the Chiefs can get a hold of either Miami or Minnesota’s 2013 first-round draft pick (both which figure to be high picks), Pioli has some ammo to make a move this franchise has needed for decades: draft a franchise quarterback.

Packaging the pick the Chiefs already own in the 2013 first round with the pick they acquire from the Bowe trade partner, Kansas City might only have to give up one more future first-round pick to get into the range to snag Tyler Bray, Matt Barkley or Tyler Wilson.

This would be a much more preferable situation than the Redskins find themselves in, which is not owning a first-round pick again until 2015. The Chiefs would only have to sit out of the first round in 2014, probably including an additional second or third for good measure.

So would trading Bowe be a blow to the offense?

Sure, but in the very short term.

For the long term, this is one of the best moves the Chiefs could make. It would be hard to part with a scoring threat like Bowe and three first-round picks. But the stability and legitimacy a young franchise quarterback would bring would be more than worth that price.